MIAMI, Fla. -- Virginia came calling to south Florida Saturday, but thanks to a 25-17 loss at the hands of Miami, south Florida, or anyplace in Florida, likely won't come calling on the Cavaliers with a bowl invite this holiday season.
In what turned out to be an evenly-matched contest, Miami (9-2, 6-2 ACC) came through when it needed to behind a stout defense and a sufficient offense, and for the second straight week Virginia lost to a top-10 opponent. The Cavaliers also fell to 0-14 when playing in the state of Florida.
"I'm proud to be associated with this [Virginia] football team," Virginia coach AlGroh said. "We played well, but we didn't play well enough to win. Had we not made a few errors along the way, we would have been good enough."
What made this loss harder to bear for Cavalier fans than the smorgasbord of points that resulted in a 52-14 loss to Virginia Tech a week ago, was that the Cavaliers out-gained the Hurricanes in total offense, 407 yards to 398, time of possession, 30:58 minutes to 29:02, and even passing yards, an area Virginia has struggled in, 296 yards to 248.
To be fair, 90 of Virginia's passing yards came on one spectacular double reverse pass from Emmanuel Byers to Deyon Williams, giving Virginia a 7-3 lead with 5:19 remaining in the first quarter.
With Virginia facing second and 14 from its own 10-yard line, the call could not have come at a better time. Taking the ball on a double reverse at the five-yard line, Byers rolled out to his right where he flung a 50-yard floater to Williams, who slowed slightly before hauling in the pass just over midfield and outrunning a single Hurricane defender for the touchdown. On the play, starting Miami strong safety Brandon Meriweather and cornerback Marcus Maxey collided, allowing Williams to skirt free.
The 90-yard play was the longest pass ever completed against Miami. It was the longest pass play for Virginia since 1991, when quarterback Matt Blundin threw a 91-yard pass against North Carolina State.
History aside, the power running of backs Wali Lundy and Jason Snelling kept Virginia in the game in the first half, slowing the tempo and keeping Miami's offense sidelined. Lundy and Snelling combined to rush for 79 yards, slicing through the Miami defense while helping out an ailing Marques Hagans, who was only three of eight for 23 yards passing through the first two quarters.
But in the third quarter, one in which Miami has been particularly dominant this season, outscoring opponents 77-14, the Hurricanes clamped down. Miami limited Virginia to only 27 yards of total offense and no points. Virginia was able to tack on a late touchdown on a six-yard reception by Williams with 27 seconds remaining, but Miami recovered the onsides kick and ran out the clock.
Miami's running back Charlie Jones was able to put together two good halves, leading the Hurricanes with 88 yards rushing on 22 attempts and two touchdowns. Jones's first came in the second quarter and would've tied the game at 10, but place kicker Jon Peattie missed the extra point. His second touchdown came with just under two minutes remaining, effectively putting the game out of reach. Miami quarterback Kyle Wright set up the score, taking off on a naked bootleg around the right side on third and two with 2:10 remaining in the fourth and racing for 31-yards down to the 1-yard line.
The game saw the last regular season action for a few noteworthy Virginia players, including senior defensive end Brennan Schmidt, who started his 50th straight game against Miami and had six tackles, including one for a four-yard loss. Junior inside linebacker Ahmad Brooks didn't make the trip as a back injury kept him from playing. True freshman Antonio Appleby started in his place and made six tackles.
With the loss, Virginia finishes the regular season with a 6-5 record (3-5 ACC) and now must wait for a bowl invitation to be extended in its direction. With N.C. State's 20-14 victory over Maryland Saturday, the ACC has eight bowl eligible teams. Last week the ACC agreed to start a four-year contract with the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl in Nashville a year early to ensure that all eight ACC teams eligible would have a bowl to attend. The Music City Bowl, which will be held on Dec. 30, is a possibility for Virginia, as is the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco. Due to the Pac-10 having only five bowl eligible teams, the Emerald Bowl, being played Dec. 29, has an open spot they are said to be holding for an ACC opponent.
Virginia's players said they needed to prove themselves against Miami, and as they left the Orange Bowl, many said they did just that.
"We came out here today with the mindset we had to stop the big plays, stop the run," cornerback Marcus Hamilton said. "And we came in expecting to win. We were confident and [that's] just the way we played out there today. I'm very proud of our guys. There are no moral victories, but we played well [against] one of the top teams in the country."
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